EU Convention

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EU Convention

Relaunch EU Democracy Now!

Europe is at its most challenging and important crossroad. We have never had a more critical debate on where Europe's path should lead - and rightly so, because EU reforms must take place sooner rather than later if we are to secure a thriving, unified Union of the people. With Europe reaching a turning point and citizens feeling more distanct from decision-makers in the EU, we need to grasp the opportunity in front of us to create a Europe that fits the 21st century reality of people's struggles. This debate on the Future of Europe will only succeed if many citizens, and not just a small elite, are truly heard.

Around the turn of the millennium, the EU tested the convention method with some success. In 1999/2000, an EU Convention established the Charter of Fundamental Rights and in 2002/2003 a Convention drafted the Constitutional Treaty. These two extensive exercises offered useful insights in the opportunities for civil society and citizen participation, whose input was instrumental in introducing the European Citizens' Initiative in the EU treaties. However, as citizens were not included throughout the entire process, the success of these Conventions were limited. In the end, only a handful of member states allowed their citizens to have a final say by means of a popular vote on the EU Constitional Treaty and the process ultimately failed.

What is an EU Convention?

The Convention process is enshrined in Article 48 of the Lisbon Treaty as the only legally valid way to really change the way the EU functions. It is the only instrument in the EU toolbox that offers the possibilty of achieving substantive changes to the EU treaties in a more open and democratic way.

It's clear that the EU must take real and legally secured steps towards reform - reforms which can only be implemented if approved by a Convention. This way, citizens as the Convention participants can directly reform Europe's future!

Citizens Consultations on the Road to an EU Convention

We're doing our own version of mini-conventions called European Public Sphere, where we collect inputs from citizens on the future of Europe through discussions in town squares. Citizens' consultations in various forms are already taking place in the EU and in the Member States. All methods are welcome so long they are a real and serious attempt to include citizens at the core of discussions and encourage a transparent debate.

But as imperative as the engagement of citizens is, such efforts must also have an objective, where the citizens' proposals can be legitimately considered. The renewal of Europe will fail if we leave the necessary crucial decisions only to the governments and take particpatory democracy only as a playing field. We must reconnect participatory democracy in the EU to the legal paths of reform according to the Lisbon Treaty, our primary law.

We must take stable and legally secured steps towards reform in the EU.

Democratic Europe Now Campaign

Ahead of the EU elections in May 2014 we ran the campaign “Democratic Europe Now“. Building an alliance of 40+ major organisations right across Europe and coordinating Europe-wide actions, we generated broad support for a Convention. In a vast lobby effort, volunteers and concerned citizens contacted more than 5,000 candidates for the European Parliament, asking them to pledge to bring real democracy on the political agenda. The effort yielded 118 deputies elected to the new Parliament pledging to submit a proposal for a Convention to reform the treaties for a more democratic Europe.